12. Angel
Chapter twelve
Angel
Iwatch as Daisy leaves the cabin, barely holding back the tears I can see begging to fall as she gives me a subtle shake of her head.
It’s her silent way of telling me that she needs to be alone with her thoughts.
A battle wages inside me; half of me wants to give her the space she needs while the other half wants to hold her while she lets it all out.
The latter wins, and I head for the door only for Owen to hold out his arm and stop me.
“She’ll be fine. You’ll know when it’s the right time to go after her,” he says. “Until that happens, we have work to do and a kidnapping to stop.”
“You won’t stop him,” Bennett interjects. “By now, he’s already chosen his next victim and has a place scoped out so far off the grid you’ll never find him.”
I push past the man and start making a pot of coffee. It’s going to be a late night. “We can try. We’ll be more successful if you tell us who he is.”
Owen sits down at the makeshift desk, which is a small folding table often used for picnics or yard sales. He opens the broken laptop, presses a few keys simultaneously, and waits for it to reboot. “I’ll get you guys up and running soon enough, but please leave any more searches to me.”
Vinny gestures for him to do what he does best. “What or who will you be searching for?”
Bennett clears his throat. “You’ll need me to send a kill command to disable the shutdown virus first. But that will be unnecessary since I’ll tell you what you need to know.”
Owen laughs. “That’s a great start, but the information I want goes beyond need, Officer Gray. I want the information you’re unwilling to share; the information that protects the CIA.”
“You’ll jeopardize missions that are in play, Agent Zurkowski. Those missions could cost people their lives. Are you really willing to sacrifice the many for the one?” Bennett asks.
Suddenly, there’s a loud scream outside. It’s not one of distress, but one of pure fury.
Owen waves his hand toward the door. “That’s your cue to go, Angel,” he says before turning to Bennett to answer the question.
“Yes, I’d be willing to sacrifice the many for the one because it’s never just one.
Each abduction affects the person, their family, their friends, and so on.
It’s a ripple effect, and it’s time to stop the stones from being thrown into the pond. ”
I rush after Daisy because her anguish is so real and palpable that I can feel it wrap around my body in a vise grip. When I emerge from the cabin, I find Daisy down on her knees, her head and hands touching the ground.
She’s sobbing when I kneel beside her and place my arm around her back. “I’m here, Daisy. Let it out.”
Whispered words leave her mouth between hitches of breath, and it’s then I realize that she’s praying. Instead of letting go, I rub her back and wait until she’s finished.
Ten minutes later, I ask in a soothing tone, “Are you okay?”
“God and I just had a little tête-à-tête. We’re all good now.” Daisy wipes her eyes before shifting into a sitting position and wrapping her arms around her knees. “Sometimes I feel like a child arguing with a parent, asking, ‘Why? Why? Why?’”
I mimic her pose, keeping us shoulder to shoulder. “What do you mean?”
She smiles, and there’s the briefest twinkle in her eyes before she says, “Have you ever argued with your dad because you wanted something so badly but were told ‘No’ for your own good?”
“Me? Never,” I tease. “I was the perfect Angel and lived up to my name.”
Daisy snickers. “I sincerely doubt that. Faith is my best friend, and she’s shared enough stories about you and your brothers for me to know you were all kinds of trouble.”
“To answer your question, yes, I argued with my mom and dad over quite a few things. Like the time I wanted to go to a party. I was seventeen and a senior in high school. They knew what kind of party it was. The kind with cheap beer flowing from a keg and mishap written all over it. All I could see at the time was a chance to hang out with the football team and maybe get a kiss from Allison Dawes.”
Resting her chin on her knees, Daisy grins. “I bet you went anyway. Not for the beer, but for the kiss.”
I smile right back at her. “I did. I waited until my mom and dad were asleep and then snuck out. But do you know what happened? By the time I arrived at the lake, the party had been broken up by the cops. Five of my teammates were arrested for underage drinking and lost their scholarships, while another twenty-seven students were suspended for a week, missing all the homecoming festivities and the dance. The argument with my parents delayed my arrival, sparing me from the same fate.”
“Did your parents find out?”
“Oh yeah. In fact, they knew what I was planning before I even left the house. They let me go because sometimes we need to learn the hard way for a lesson to really sink in. I was grounded for a month, and I never did get that kiss from Allison.”
Daisy’s eyes crinkle. “That was the real punishment, wasn’t it?”
I shrug. “We don’t always get what we want because it’s not what’s best for us. So, do you want to tell me what you were asking God about?”
“It was more like me venting while begging for clarity. Why would God spare me and not the other girls? With a snap of His fingers, He could have saved them all by intervening. So why did He save me? What you heard, and what likely drew you out here, was me letting out all of my frustration so that I don’t blame Him.
Still, it’s hard to wrap my head around the idea of God allowing evil to exist in the world when He could snap His fingers and make it disappear. ”
She raises her hands to stop me from sharing my opinion before she’s finished. “I can’t imagine a world where being taken away from all you love and hold dear was best for those girls.”
“In the moment, it might not have been what was best,” I tell her.
“But if they don’t want to return home, then maybe they’re exactly where they’re supposed to be.
Tragedy can alter the course of a person’s life, Daisy.
You know that firsthand. You’re here where you belong because of your abduction.
Granted, you escaped, which I honestly believe is part of God’s plan.
But that doesn’t mean He can’t use those women too. Trust Him.”
Daisy stands up and offers me her hand. “I know, and you’re right.
I guess every once in a while I need a reminder, especially after hearing that there are people out in the world who stand by and allow bad things to happen.
Thank you. However, if I’m part of the plan, I should get back inside and do my job. ”
“Are you ready to talk to Bennett?” I ask. “You didn’t seem too pleased with him earlier.”
“Yeah, but before I do, I need you to be honest with me. Is what Bennett said in there possible? Can the CIA lose track of someone?”
I stop on the bottom step of the cabin stairs and lean against the post, my breath coming out in puffs of white vapor.
“It took the CIA ten years of collecting intelligence before they found Osama bin Laden, one of the most dangerous and notorious terrorists we’ve ever known.
So, yes. It’s not only possible, but probable.
If the missing girls had their appearances changed, so much so that even their ears were altered, then absolutely.
And don’t forget your teammate and my sister’s fiancé, Jaxon.
They were partners for years before he went undercover with the DEA.
After his surgery, she didn’t recognize him until he told her the truth about who he is now.
I know that’s not what you want to hear… .”
“It’s not, but it does make Bennett a bit more trustworthy in my eyes than he was ten seconds ago,” Daisy says.
“I wouldn’t go that far. He is CIA, after all.” I wink.
It takes Owen nearly an hour to get my laptop up and running and reconnect the feeds from the security cameras. Bennett appears mildly impressed with the system when he finds out that the feeds are encrypted and the cameras can store two weeks of data without a network connection.
We watch Bennett on the screen do exactly what he said he did.
He pulls out a small device, floods the perimeter alarm’s operating frequency with interference, and forces it into a reconnection cycle.
He walks into the cabin, takes a quick look around, and then goes back outside, where he waits for us for nearly half an hour.
“You didn’t search the cabin,” Daisy mumbles. “Why didn’t you just say so, Officer Gray?”
“I did, but you didn’t believe me,” Bennett remarks. Then, for politeness’s sake, he adds, “And please, call me Bennett. We’re partners now, and Officer Gray sounds so formal. May I call you Daisy? It’s such a lovely name.”
Not appreciating the flirtatious tone, I say, “You can call us whatever you want as long as you start with the truth.”
The corner of Bennett’s mouth lifts. “Let me go get my briefcase. Daisy, would you care to join me on the little jaunt?”
“I’ll go with you,” Scott says. “I need to unload our equipment from the vehicle.”
“Well, you’re not the insanely beautiful company I was hoping for as an escort,” Bennett quips.
Owen stands up and fluffs the curling edges of his hair. “If beauty is what you want, then I’ll go with you. I’ll meet you outside in just a moment. I need to have a private word with my sister first.”
Vinny and Scott escort Bennett outside without waiting for Owen. I’m not sure if Owen intends for me to leave as well, but I don’t plan to make a move until he says otherwise.
“Whatever you’re about to say, don’t,” Daisy says before her brother can get a word in edgewise.
“You don’t even know what it is.”
Daisy huffs. “I don’t have to. It’s going to be some overprotective brotherly advice that I don’t need.”
Owen shoulders the rifle he had resting against the desk.
“You know me so well. That also means you know I’m going to say what I have to say regardless.
It’s about the current sleeping arrangements.
I’m not comfortable with them. Why don’t you move in with Scott and me while Vinny moves in with Angel?
There’s an extra bedroom at Vinny’s place where you’ll have your privacy. ”
My brows furrow at the implication that I’d do anything untoward, as do Daisy’s.
She gestures to the bed taking up a quarter of the studio cabin, then to the couch with folded blankets and a pillow next to it.
“I’m fine right where I’m at, and Angel has been nothing but a gentleman by sleeping on the sofa. You have nothing to worry about, Owen.”
His offer makes sense, and I’m a little surprised that Daisy doesn’t take him up on it.
I was honest with her about my intentions for the shared space, forcing us to talk about my blunder after the kiss I can’t stop thinking about.
Since we’ve had that conversation, there’s no reason for us to continue occupying the same space.
I’m about to tell her as much, but then she says, “I trust Angel as much as I trust you, Owen, with my life.”
Owen’s eyes meet mine, looking for any sign that I’m not the stand-up guy I’ve always tried to be. “I trust you’ll protect my sister’s life, Angel. That’s not what concerns me. It’s her heart. You broke it once. There won’t be a second time. You got me? If you kiss her again, you better mean it.”
I raise my hands to placate him. “I meant it the first time. But you have my word, Owen. The next time I kiss Daisy…”
Daisy mutters under her breath, “There’s that optimism again.”
“…it will be because she kisses me first,” I finish.
Owen nods and walks toward the door. He opens it, turns around, and leaves me with a parting quip. “Then you won’t have a problem with me putting up a camera.”
Daisy shoves him out the front door. “Stop being a turd, Owen, and remember one thing. When you find the girl of your dreams, there will be payback! So have your fun now because I’ll have mine later.”
Once she shuts the door and it’s just the two of us, Daisy leans against it and sighs. “Ignore him. He’s just messing with you.”
I chuckle. “He’s serious, and I don’t blame him one bit. I pretty much told Jaxon the same thing, giving him the ‘if you hurt my sister’ speech. It didn’t work on him either. But I wasn’t kidding, Daisy. The next time our lips meet, it will be because you choose for it to happen.”
And if I have my way, it won’t be our last.